Short luteal phase?

[JuniperandI]

Hi ladies

I have a short LP, about 9-10 days. Anyone else in the same boat? Have you managed to get pregnant with a short LP? Any advice would be very welcome!

@DesertSnow hey cycle buddy 😂 my LP is about 9 days. I would say for sure yours moving forward to CD19 is a great sign, that’s within the ‘normal’ timeframe, as far as I know! Later ovulation after CD21 tends to result in lower quality eggs, apparently. I’ve been ovulating on CD22.
I don’t know if it’s as simple as ovulate earlier and LP will lengthen accordingly but it’s definitely good to ovulate earlier!

@Mugascauld Ah that's reassuring - wonder if my cycle could be trying to sort itself out? No idea why though! I've been trackng since April and consistently late ovulation and short LP... It's so frustrating waiting so long to ovulate isn't it? At least if I o'd aroud CD 14 it wouldn't be such a long dragged out wait to get to the fertile window. I didn't know that about lower quality eggs... are you taking any supplements to try and combat that? COQ10 is one they mention around egg quality.

@DesertSnow I’m not taking anything specific for the eggs… yet 😂
Based on my research (which could all be wrong) late ovulation indicates that your body is taking longer than normal to mature the eggs because of some sort of other hormonal issue, so when they’re finally released they’re a bit less mature than they should be. So it’s not really an egg quality issue, if that makes sense?! Again, I’m no expert but I’ve spent a lot of time looking things up, and this is what I’ve concluded! So I’m hoping all the other vitamins that have been mentioned here should help, and if not then I’ll think about what else I can do!

@Mugascauld ah ok that makes sense, and it's interesting, thanks for the info! I'd never really thought much about ovulating late, just the short LP. So if it's hormonal, I guess it could be linked!

I think this is correct☺️
my consultant wants to bring my ovulation closer to day14 with Letrozole
supposedly because I have lots of follicles my body takes longer to mature a dominant one.
even with the Letrozole though my body still wasn’t ready by day 14 🙄🙈
I haven’t found anything natural yet to fix my late ovulation issue.
i had thought about Angus cactus but I was worried as it can cause longer cycles in some people.
I have read good things about it though

do any of you know if you also have multi follicular ovaries?
I don’t have true PCOS as my hormone profile was normal.
i have always suffered from acne prone skin though.

Something has just popped into my head - I have short cycles (between 23 & 26 days for the last 3 months), so is my cycle short because my luteal phase is short OR is my luteal phase short because my cycle is short?!

@JuniperandI its so confusing isn’t it! Unfortunately I don’t have an answer for you but I wonder something similar about my cycle except mine is on the longer side. I keep coming back to the same thing - whatever the reason, my hormones are out of whack, so just gotta focus on that.
one thing I’m noticing is how little research/information there is on this out there! I really wish there was more research carried out on variations in the menstrual cycle

Earlier this year my cycles were alternating between long and short, so one month my cycle would be 32-35 days, next month would be 24-26 days. This went on for 6 months. Turned out it was my thyroid; I have an underactive thyroid and needed my meds adjusted and once they kicked in I had 3 x 30 day cycles so was back to normal. I was tracking my cycle on the Flo app but really just for AF, not using OPKs or anything as I wasn’t TTC. Flo indicates that my LP for the past year has been 9-10 days, but I don’t know for sure if my thyroid was causing the short LP or if LP was short anyway and my thyroid was affecting my FP length.

I have used OPKs for my last 2 cycles. Last month my cycle was only 25 days, LP was 9 days, ovulated on CD16. This month I ovulated on CD20 and my Flo app is predicting AF on CD30 based on a 9 day LP so we’ll see if that materialises. I’ve had my thyroid checked again and should have results this week to see if my thyroid is acting up again. If they have to adjust my meds again I’ll be told to hold off TTC for 3 months until the new dose kicks in 😥

SO confusing.

I've just had a bbt result today that's thrown everything out of whack. Because of the temp this morning both natural cycles and Premom moved my ovulation to CD22 which puts me now at 3DPO. But AF would normally be due tomorrow. So that would be a 4 day LP. Who blooming knows!!
Tested this AM as I'm so confused this cycle, no surprise it's a BFN. Probably because I'm either only 7DPO or 3DPO!
Let's see if AF arrives tomorrow. It's usually bang on. Haven't varied for over 6 months.

Changes I've made this month are just my vitamins - but I did have Covid. Wonder why that's why this cycle is so screwy?
Sigh....!

Just throwing my experience into the group as a girl who's LP has been 9/10 days. I have tried so many things over the years but the only thing I've found that really worked for me was the vitabiotics conception pregnacare, I got pregnant twice on the first cycle taking them after trying for about 4 cycles. I found so many of the other vitamins made me feel sick/not quite right. I've been pregnant 4 times (1 early MC) & I have used the ferti-lily too which I also swear by! I know that does nothing to lengthen LP but just another aid to getting pregnant (for me anyway). On top of OPK's & temping. I'm a bit TTC mad!

@mylion ahhh fab. Loving all these positive stories. 💕 thank you for sharing.

Looks like I'm taking separates of the pregnacare Ingredients in mostly higher doses except copper, selenium & iodine. I may add those in next cycle. Thank you!

I've got some soft cups left over from when I used to use them years ago. I might get them out and give them a try. I think they would do the same thing as Ferti-Lilly, and I could leave it in longer too!

@Jendy87 That's interesting about the multi follicular ovaries. From a scan a few years ago I remember them saying one of my ovaries was polycystic - but not to say that I had PCOS, but maybe that means mine is multi follicular also? Not sure. I've also thought about agnus cactus but am not pursuing that for now as I have heard it can mess with your cycles.

@JuniperandI I would have assumed you have short cycles because of your short luteal phase - unless you ovulate super early? Because then if your LP was an average length your cycles would be a regular length?

@Mugascauld 100% wish there was more research in this area. And with lots of doctors saying that a short LP is not a problem, it feels like we are left to fend for ourselves and do our own research.

@GabbyGal Have you thought about BBT? Can help to pinpoint ovulation (more than OPKs). Sorry if you've already said. I guess on the plus side if it is your thyroid, it's an issue you can proactively tackle?

@EmmRach I wouldn't set too much store by one temperature, see what happens tomorrow. Hope AF doesn't turn up for you! And yes, I've heard Covid can throw your cycle off.

@mylion thanks for sharing! Great to hear of success with a short LP.

@DesertSnow No I haven’t tried BBT but might start that next cycle. And yes, at least if my thyroid is causing the short LP I can tackle that. Going to call the GP this morning to get my blood test results.

Here’s hoping for some BFPs in November!

I've started taking evening primrose oil and will use OPK from the day my period finishes. Finger's crossed for a positive in November! Can someone remind me how soon after the surge I might ovulate?

Also, those who BBT - does alcohol effect the result? I sometimes like a drink of an evening 🤔

Jumping in the thread as I’m V worried about my LP - have always had a 19 day cycle and it has been about 5/6 days long

keen to hear if anyone has successfully had treatments for LP defect (I’ve heard progesterone pressaries)

in any case I’m booking in to get this looked at asap - may have to go private as my NHS dr has such a long wait time and seems to only be offering phone calls :(

I’m sure alcohol does affect bbt.
I started charting bbt after my mmc in march.
it’s a great way to confirm ovulation.
my luteal temps never get very high- another indicator of my luteal phase defect I think 😩

I’ve started progesterone pessaries this month.
I will update on how this goes.
For me my luteal phase is actually 13days but spotting and progesterone insufficient/falling from 7dpo.
late ovulation also adds to this issue for me

Thanks @Jendy87 pls let us know how you get on … and best of luck

Hello, i am currently 22 weeks pregnant with our second baby which took 8 months of tracking and trying during which i have figured out that my LP is 8-10 days. Used to be longer before i had our first child but my cycles seem to have changed after the first birth. Anyway, i was too worried and kept googling and reading what to do. I was taking pregnancare, vit b6 100mg and 1000mg vitamin c - it did nothing. Then started taking Angus Cactus 2 months before i got pregnant, saw no change in my cycle in month one but got pregnant in month 2. To be honest, i dont think this is what got me pregnant but wanted to say that, it is possible to get pregnant with short LP although it may take longer. Wishing luck to everyone xx

Also wanted to add that i got pregnant in the month that we didnt really try and only had sex once and i must have been about 2 days before ovulation, so the thing about too much sex harming may really be true as the months before, we did every other day or every day around ovulation and nothing happened.

@DesertSnow must be nearly wedding time!! Wishing you all the best for your big day. May it be filled with love and happiness and bring hopeful new beginnings.

@JuniperandI Natural cycles tells you to ignore your temp for that day if you are hungover or sick. I've not personally noticed a couple of drinks throw things off though. Only when I've had far more than I should!!

@Carlotta27 ahh, yeah 5 or 6 days is pretty short. I'm hopeful your NHS doc can do something for you?! I know they don't 'believe' in LP defect but with yours being so short I'd hope they would help you explore what's going on?! But.... if you do go private one of the ladies on here was kind enough to post the costs of her private appointments & treatment. Scroll through below if that would be helpful for you.

@Jendy87 good luck on the pessaries. Hopeful they work for you. Yes please do report back!!

@Kitty901 that's brilliant to hear. And congrats!! The positive posts that people are leaving is really comforting. Thank you for sharing!!
In terms of what helped for you...It is all a bit random and guesswork isn't it. I'm consciously leaving Angus castus for now. I've heard it can change your cycle and I'm usually very regular. So there is that, but I also want to leave something in my arsenal to feel like, months down the line, I can get excited about trying again because I have a new strategy or pill or potion to try. I know that sounds mad but currently I'm awaiting AF to arrive, due on today... and if she does arrive. I'll be ok about it because I've got something new to try next month (premom downloaded with tests awaiting!)

Hi team! I need your help...

So... spotting Vs AF...

I've started bleeding today. Only a small amount, it's there when I wipe and a pantyliner has done the job today. Might need another when I get home from work.

What do we think? Is that spotting or AF?

Probably worth pointing out my period is really horribly heavy when I'm in full flow.

Thanks in advance teamies

Hey @EmmRach i think the diff between spotting and AF is the colour and frequency! If it’s bright red and happening throughout the day, even if it’s a small amount, its AF.

@Mugascauld agh boooo. Ok yeah. I think it's AF then as it's been all day and bright red. Thank you for the info, that was super helpful, even if it's not what I wanted to hear hahaha

@EmmRach thank you! I didnt want to just read and run because up until a few months ago, i was searching google and various forums for posts about short LP with the hope to find information that may help me to extend it. I was too reluctant to start the angus cactus as i also read it may change the cycle, i took it only until i got the peak on ovulation tests. My cycles were regular but just short - 22 days long with peak on ovulation tests on CD 12/13 which was disturbing. I wish i knew for sure what helped me get pregnant with a short LP so that i can tell others and help but i really dont know as i never really managed to extend it! I hope you all dont have to wait much longer but it will happen, hang in there! ❤️